The neat, colorful 6,500-square-foot showroom at Harris Flooring of America takes Essie Junkins' memory back to a different Anderson era, when her grandfather managed a retail landmark known as the Bailes Department Store.

A small part of that operation was the flooring/carpet store in the basement of the Bailes Building, where Essie Geiger Junkins played as a child and joined the flooring store staff 50 years ago.

"I wish all the others could see it now," she said, referring also to founding grandfather George Bailes, grandfather Thomas Bailes, mother Beverly Bailes Geiger and several other family members who worked at the Bailes Department Store that gave the flooring store its start. "The carpet store has come a long way."

With three levels of merchandise, connected by the city's first escalator, the Bailes building housed a popular, ahead-of-its-time retail business that in the mid-20th century gave visitors a glimpse of shopping malls of the future. In its basement, where Essie Junkins played as a child and joined the staff as a sophomore at Hanna High in 1967, the large rolls of vinyl flooring are a vivid memory.

"I remember the tube rugs, 9 by 12 (feet), with all those different prints. We sold them for $1.99. People would nail them to the floor. We sure sold a lot of them," said Junkins, who joined a flooring staff that included Lawrence Harris and Mary Strickland. Harris, for whom the store is named, partnered with Thomas Bailes as owners when the flooring store opened in the Bailes basement in 1947. When Harris suffered serious injuries in an auto accident that forced him to retire early, he sold his share of the business to Bailes and daughter Beverly Bailes Geiger.

It sold so many vinyl and linoleum rugs that Essie Junkins, daughter of Beverly Geiger, recalls delivery trips throughout the Upstate and as far away as Black Mountain, North Carolina. She also remembers the flooring evolution to wall-to-wall carpet — wool in the early days — which gave way to shag carpeting, which seemed to find its way into most American homes in the 1970s.

The store moved in 1956 to 211 West River Street, now serves as a 12,000-square-foot warehouse. In 2008, the store made a bold move to the Civic Center Boulevard Extension, where Scott and Russell Junkins lead a high-tech, multi-faceted operation that has grown in 20 years from six employees to 26.

Today, those large rolls of vinyl have given way to an ever-expanding selection of flooring. And the art of selection has also changed dramatically since Scott Junkins joined the family business 21 years ago. Instead of strolling past those large rolls of vinyl or shag carpet, customers plan home renovations from among 17,000 floor choices.

"We're more like design consultants now," said Junkins, who serves as president. "The demands of customers are different. A lot different. We now know that the connection to a product is emotional, and it starts at the design table."

While Scott has gravitated to the sales side of the business, less talkative younger brother Russell's comfort zone is behind the scenes, particularly in the service area. Now 33, he has 17 years with the company and serves as builder account manager.

"I'm definitely an introvert. I don't want to sell anyone anything. But I like being part of a job where the customer ends up happy," Russell Junkins said. "That's my niche."

Scott Junkin, left, seen working in Harris Carpet store in 1999. The store was on River Street, after being in the Bailes Building, and before moving to the current location in 2008.(Photo: Courtesy photo)

The fifth-generation managers lean heavily on designers, who provide custom flooring art work for such clients as Clemson University (in its new football facility), BMW (throughout its manufacturing plant) and the Greenville Drive, whose home at Fluor Field attracts thousands of visitors each summer.

"When the recession began, Harris was known among the builders. But when people stopped building houses, 50 percent of our business went away in 18 months," said Junkins, Scott 44 now and 35 when the recession hit. "The recession caused a seismic shift in how we did business, and how we had to market our product.

"We had to diversify; we couldn't rely on one aspect of the business," said Scott Junkins, who took proactive steps to find commercial customers. Today, the commercial division is his strongest segment of the business.

It all seemed unlikely in 2008. On the very day the store celebrated its grand opening, Junkins listened to a nationally televised address by President George W. Bush, who sounded the recession alarm, telling viewers that the economy "was in dire straits."

It was not comforting news to a young entrepreneur who had just made a bold move.

"There was a lot of fear," Scott Junkins said. "A lot of prayer went into making this move. We felt like we had a definitive answer from the Lord."

The answer has been provided by a steady stream of customers. The store last year expanded into a second retail outlet in Greenwood.